tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65330217065122468772017-08-31T09:32:13.624-04:00Jacob's Season with the CubbiesJacob Christmannoreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-4766138935956081572013-05-11T14:41:00.002-04:002013-05-11T19:58:26.900-04:00Preview for the May 11th Game<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Preview for the May 11<sup>th</sup>Game<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Chicago Cubs (13-22) at Washington Nationals (20-15)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Chicago Cubs will be looking to even up their series against the Nationals by winning today’s game. The game will be played at Nationals Park and will start at 4:05pm eastern time. The probable starter for the Cubbies will be the former Nats pitcher Edwin Jackson. Jackson is sporting a record of 0-5 with an era of 6.39 and a whip 1.63. Edwin Jackson will be looking to beat his former team in which he pitched solidly for last year by going 10-11 with an era just over four and seventeen quality starts. Jackson is going to need to pitch well in today’s game because he is in jeopardy of losing his spot in the rotation when Matt Garza returns from the DL because Jackson has been the least effective Cubs starter so far this early season. Another reason why Edwin Jackson is going to need to pitch well in this game is that if the Cubs plan on getting a win in today’s game they need Jackson to pitch extremely well so that the Cubs can keep the game close because the Nationals starting pitcher can be dominate at times.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Nats will be sending their ace Stephen Strasburg to the mound for today’s game. Strasburg is a young hard throwing pitcher who has a record of 1-4 with an era of 3.45 and a whip 1.15. The pitches in Strasburg repertoire are a four seam fastball that sits in the mid-90s, a two seam fastball that also sits in the mid-90s with great movement, a curve ball that has a deadly drop to it and a changeup that batters are struggling mightily against this year.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Cubs hitters will be facing an extremely tough pitcher and need to bring their A game if they want to have success today. The Cubs will also need to provide good run support for Edwin Jackson because the Nats lineup has been on a tear lately. Starlin Castro suits up well against Strasburg because he is a fastball pitcher and Castro hits fastballs better than breaking ball pitchers, however Castro might need to limit his leg kick when he is batting to keep up with Stephen Strasburg’s fastball.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>My prediction for the game is the Cubbies will not be able to prevent the Nationals from winning this game and taking the advantage in this series. The Nats will win with a score of 5 to 1. I just believe that the Cubs won’t be able to score against Strasburg and won't be able to prevent the Nationals from scoring. My predicted player of the game is Stephen Strasburg because I see him going seven scoreless innings against the Cubbies and will have double digit punch outs. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-58733945170140613722013-05-08T14:13:00.000-04:002013-05-08T14:13:12.048-04:00Preview for the May 8th Game<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Preview for the May 8<sup>th</sup>Game<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>St. Louis Cardinals (20-12) at Chicago Cubs (13-20)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Chicago Cubs will be looking to sweep the Cards in their two game series against them. The game is at 2:20pm eastern time at the friendly confines. The probable starting pitcher for the Cubbies will be tough and tricky right-handed pitcher Carlos Villanueva. Villanueva is looking to go 2-2 on this season by getting a win against the Cards and improve on his an era of 2.85 and an amazing whip of just 0.93. If Carlos Villanueva wants to have a successful game against the Cardinals he is going to need to change his pitches types well and change the location of his pitches to keep the Cardinals hitters straight footed.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The probable starter for the Cards is the sinker ball thrower Jake Westbrook. The veteran right-handed pitcher is 2-1 on the year with an excellent era of 1.07 and a terrible whip of 1.40 which is misleading because with that bad of a whip you would expect Westbrook’s era to be higher and suggests that he has been a little lucky so far this season. The pitches that Westbrook relies on are a sinker ball which is his best pitch and most used pitch, a two seam fastball that has solid movement to it, a&nbsp;curve ball&nbsp;that he will use to strike batters out, a changeup that is mostly straight and a cutter that is effective against tough left-handed batters.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Cubs hitters will be looking to evaluate the ball in the game today because Westbrook is a sinker ball pitcher and wants to the ball to be hit on the ground. If the Cubbies want to pull out the sweep they are going to need to run up Westbrook’s pitch count and get to the Cards bullpen, which has been one of the worst bullpens this year so far. The Cubs batters will be hoping the wind is blowing out today in Wrigley so that they can take advantage Westbrook and his&nbsp;sinker ball.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>My prediction for today’s game is that the Cubs lose in a heartbreak with a score of 6 to 3. The Cubs got lucky yesterday because you can’t expect to beat the Cards by only scoring two runs in a game therefore they need to&nbsp;manufacture&nbsp;runs when they get the chances. I just believe the Carlos Villanueva has two consecutive bad starts and is out pitched by Westbrook. My predicted player of the game is Allen Craig, he went yard in last night’s game and I predict that he will hit another homer in this series with the Cubs because Villanueva tends &nbsp;to give up the long ball too much in games.</b></span><o:p></o:p></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-63994724776781722462013-05-07T21:17:00.004-04:002013-05-07T21:17:40.477-04:00May 1st Game’s Results and Analysis<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>May 1<sup>st</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 200%;">&nbsp;</span></span>Game’s Results and Analysis<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Chicago Cubs 6 – San Diego Padres 2<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Winning Pitcher: Feldman (2-3) Losing Pitcher: Cashner (1-2)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Player of the Game: Scott Feldman</b></span><o:p></o:p></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-88323047255826194522013-05-07T21:17:00.001-04:002013-05-07T21:18:00.577-04:00April 30th Game’s Results and Analysis<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>April 30<sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 200%;">&nbsp;</span></span>Game’s Results and Analysis<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>San Diego Padres 13 – Chicago Cubs 7<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Winning Pitcher: Volquez (2-3) Losing Pitcher: Jackson (0-4)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Player of the Game: Carlos Quentin</b></span><o:p></o:p></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-55360967730685423592013-05-07T20:36:00.003-04:002013-05-07T20:36:28.113-04:00April 29th Game’s Results and Analysis<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>April 29<sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 200%;">&nbsp;</span></span>Game’s Results and Analysis<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Chicago Cubs 5 – San Diego Padres 3<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Winning Pitcher: Bowden (1-1) Losing Pitcher: Richard (0-3)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Save by Gregg (4)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Player of the Game: Cody Ransom<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Chicago Cubs rebounded from their loss to the Marlins by taking their first game against the Padres in their four game series against them. The Chicago Cubs brought their bats to the game and scored enough runs to lead the Cubbies to a 5 to 3 victory over the Padres. The Cubs got great performances from their 7<sup>th</sup> and 8<sup>th</sup> hitters in the game and solid performances from other hitters in their lineup. Darwin Barney provided the Cubs with not only a great glove in the field, but also provided them with some pop in his bat by going 2 for 3 with a walk, two RBIs and two doubles. However, Barney was outshined by his teammate Cody Ransom who hit back to back homers with Scott Hairston in the second inning and in addition to his homer he went 2 for 4 in the game with two runs scored and had two RBIs which earned him the player of the game.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Impressive: The most impressive thing in today’s game was the Cubs’ bats. The Cubs hitters had five extra base hits in the game and toiled a total of ten hits in the game, seven of which came off the left-handed former Michigan football player, Clayton Richard. The Cubs hitters showed that they can hit off left-handed pitchers in their game and that they can win games for the Cubbies. Another impressive thing about this game was Kevin Gregg, who went 1.1 innings with two strikeouts and allowed no base runners on base. I believe the Cubs have found someone reliable enough to become their closer.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Surprising: The thing that caught my attention was Jeff Samardzija’s performance. Samardzija only went five innings where he threw 101 pitches, basically he was just a little too wild which can account for his four walks in the game. He allowed three earned runs, but those runs could have been avoidable if he just had a little better command on his pitches. Don’t get me wrong I believe that Samardzija is the best pitcher that the Cubs have and has elite stuff, but he needs to find the strike zone more and learn to not overthrow his pitches. I strongly believe Samardzija has enough talent to receive a Cy Young award in his career, but he needs to understand that he doesn’t need to pitch every pitch perfectly, he just needs to limit the walks.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Concerning: What I found concerning in today’s game was how Shawn Camp pitched. Camp only recorded one out, however he gave up two hits and one walk in the seventh inning and has had a difficult time getting outs so far this early season. Shawn Camp has been getting rocked out of the bullpen and needs to find a way to provide the Cubs the outs they need. Another concern of mine, which has been a concern of mine for a long time, is how poorly the Cubs hit when they have runners in scoring position. I know that I am beating this like a dead horse, but the Cubs hitters need to step up when they are given the chances. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-21046723673323292002013-05-07T20:24:00.004-04:002013-05-07T20:24:33.549-04:00April 28th Game’s Results and Analysis<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>April 28<sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 200%;">&nbsp;</span></span>Game’s Results and Analysis<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Miami Marlins 6 - Chicago Cubs 4<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Winning Pitcher: Nolasco (2-2) Losing Pitcher: Villanueva (1-1)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Save by Cishnek (3)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Player of the Game: Giancarlo Stanton<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Chicago Cubs couldn’t pull out the sweep against the Miami Marlins because of their loss on Sunday. The Cubbies couldn’t manufacture enough runs off the Marlins and their ace Ricky Nolasco in order to get the win. Nolasco had a great outing against the Cubs by going seven strong innings, just allowing three earned runs on 4 hits and two walks. Even though Nolasco put together a quality start against the Cubs he isn’t the player of the game because he was outshined by his teammate Giancarlo Stanton. Stanton went 3 for 3 with a walk, 3 runs scored, 4 RBIs and two homeruns in the game, which easily makes him the player of the game.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Impressive: I was impressed by a few hitters for the Cubbies. One of them was Starlin Castro who went 2 for 4 in the game with two RBIs and double, however he did strikeout once in the game. I was also impressed by Anthony Rizzo who went 2 for 3 with a walk, a RBI and a double however he also stuck out once in the game as well. The other Cubs hitter that I was impressed with was Dioner Navarro, who hit a solo shot in the ninth inning off the Marlins closer Steve Cishek. Navarro has been impressive at the plate for the Cubs this year, which is kind of surprising because he isn’t known exactly for his bat. Overall, he was a good addition for the Cubbies this off-season and is an above average backup catcher.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Surprising: I was surprised with Carlos Villanueva struggles in this game. I was expecting Villanueva to just cruise by this one because he has pitched amazingly this year and was going up against one of the weakest lineups in the majors. However, Villanueva collected his first lost in the season by going six innings, allowing four earned runs on four hits and three walks. The three walks is what I find most shocking because he has shown great command in his first few starts as a Cub and these walks could have been prevented. Although, Villanueva did strikeout eight Marlins and kept the game in reach for the Cubs.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Concerning: The Cubs just couldn’t score enough runs to pull out a win and that has happened too much in this season so far. The Cubs batters really need to step up when they have runners in scoring position. Even though the Cubbies took their four game series against the Marlins, they could have done better at the plate. The Cubbies are getting great outings from their pitchers and solid performances from the bullpen lately, which means it is time for their hitters to step up and do their part to win games. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-20029329493234854412013-05-07T20:17:00.007-04:002013-05-07T20:17:52.785-04:00April 27th Game’s Results and Analysis<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>April 27<sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 200%;">&nbsp;</span></span>Game’s Results and Analysis<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Chicago Cubs 3 – Miami Marlins 2<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Winning Pitcher: Wood (2-1) Losing Pitcher: Sanabia (2-3)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Save by Gregg (3)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Player of the Game: Travis Wood<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Chicago Cubs took the series against the Marlins by winning their third straight game against the Fish and will be looking for the sweep in tomorrow’s game. The Cubbies didn’t score a lot of runs, but scored enough for Travis Wood to get his second win on the year. Wood pitched another quality start for the Cubs by going six innings, allowing two earned runs on just three hits and one walk. Travis Wood was the player of the game because he put together another stellar outing on the hill for the Cubs and led them to a solid victory in a low scoring game. The Cubs also got a great performance from centerfielder David DeJesus, who went 2 for 4 with a run scored, a RBI and double.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Impressive: I’m impressed with Travis Wood’s outing in this game and his performances in this early season. Wood looked dominate in the game by just giving up three hits and two of those hits left the yard, which means Wood really only made two mistakes in the game. Travis Wood also had five punch outs in the game, which is his second most in a game so far this year and probably had enough in the tank to pitch one more inning in the game if it hadn’t have been a one run ball game. Wood has been great for the Cubs so far this season, by pitching a quality start every time he goes to the mound and having a low era of 2.25. I believe Wood has shown that he is a reliable starter for the Cubbies and that the Cubs can rely on him in the upcoming years.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Surprising: I’m most surprised with Kevin Gregg and his success in the ninth inning for the Cubs, even though manager Dale Sveum has not yet admitted that Gregg is the closer for the Cubs. Gregg threw a perfect inning in the ninth to collect his third save of the year and got one punch out in the game. I will say I was kind of against the idea of the Cubs adding Kevin Gregg to their bullpen, but so far he has proven me wrong.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Concerning: Once again, there wasn’t a lot that concerned me about the Cubbies except that they didn’t have any timely hits when there were runners in scoring position. The Cubbies went 2 for 8 when they had ducks on the pound and will need to step it up in those scenarios if they want to try to get a .500 record this year.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>&nbsp;&nbsp;</b></span><o:p></o:p></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-23236139603025597702013-05-07T20:12:00.001-04:002013-05-07T20:12:19.921-04:00April 26th Game’s Results and Analysis<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>April 26<sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 200%;">&nbsp;</span></span>Game’s Results and Analysis<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Chicago Cubs 4 – Miami Marlins 2<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Winning Pitcher: Feldman (1-3) Losing Pitcher: LeBlanc (0-4)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Save by Gregg (2)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Player of the Game: Anthony Rizzo<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Chicago Cubs took two games in as many days by defeating the Marlins in a low scoring affair. The Cubbies won this game by getting solid pitching from starter Scott Feldman and by the at-bat of first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Feldman went 6.2 innings, gave up just two earned runs on 7 hits and 2 walks, which gave him his first win as a Cub and his first quality start of the season. Although, Feldman put together his best outing of the year in the game, he was out played by Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo went 3 for 4 with two run homers in the game and was responsible for all the runs the Cubbies scored in the game, therefore he earned player of the game.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Impressive: Anthony Rizzo’s performance was the most impressive thing in the game because he did most of his damage against a left-handed pitcher. Rizzo tends to have a difficult time against lefties, however in this game he hit two monster homers off Wade LeBlanc and showed that he can take both right and left-handed pitchers yard. Not only was Rizzo’s game impressive because of his two homeruns, but he also got another hit in the game and then stole a base. Rizzo has shown early on this season that he can pretty much do it all and is a player that the Cubbies could build around.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Surprising: Scott Feldman’s outing caught me off guard and therefore was the thing that surprised me the most in the game. I knew coming in to the game that this is probably Feldman’s best chance to get a victory because the Marlins don’t have that deep of a lineup, however Feldman pitched better than I thought he would in the game. Feldman only gave up two walks in the game and so far this season that has been his biggest problem on the year, but today it looked like he had better control of his pitches which propelled him to his victory over the Marlins. Feldman did gave up two earned runs, one of the runs coming off a solo homer from Joe Mahoney, but Feldman still pitched an effective game and showed he can be a reliable starter for the Cubbies.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Concerning: There isn’t a lot to be concerned about for the Cubs after this game, but if I had to be a stickler about something, I would be concerned about how poorly they hit with runners in scoring position. The Cubbies went 1 for 7 when they had base runners in scoring positions and that hit was one of Rizzo’s homeruns in the game.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-53884129493209381912013-05-07T19:59:00.002-04:002013-05-07T19:59:54.953-04:00April 25th Game’s Results and Analysis<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>April 25<sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 200%;">&nbsp;</span></span>Game’s Results and Analysis<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Chicago Cubs 4 – Miami Marlins 3<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Winning Pitcher: Camp (1-1) Losing Pitcher: Cishek (1-2)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Save by Marmol (4)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Player of the Game: Luis Valbuena<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Chicago Cubs took the first game of their four game series against the Miami Marlins. The Cubbies got a quality start from Edwin Jackson, who went six innings allowing 3 earned runs on five hits and 4 walks. Nate Schierholtz put together another solid performance for the Cubbies by going 2 for 4 with a double and a solo homerun in the sixth inning off of Kevin Slowey. Schierholtz’s performance was good enough to be player of the game, but Luis Valbuena earned the player of the game because of his solo shot in the ninth off of Steve Cishek, which was the game winner for the Cubs. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Impressive: What impressed me in this game was how well that Nate Schierholtz performed in the game. Schierholtz had two extra base hits in the game, which helped the Cubbies come out with a victory over the Marlins. Schierholtz has performed well for the Cubs this year so far and I believe he has shown the Cubs organization that he should get every day at bats.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Surprising: I was extremely surprised with Anthony Rizzo’s performance in the game. Rizzo went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. Initially I thought that Rizzo would suit up well against Slowey and at least get a hit off him, instead Rizzo struck out three times in the game. I was also surprised that the Cubs brought Hector Rondon into the game in the 7<sup>th</sup> inning because the game was tied and I thought the Cubbies would only use Rondon when games are out of reach. However, Rondon pitched a perfect inning in the seventh and showed that he can be a reliable pitcher out of the bullpen for the Cubs.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Concerning: What concerns me about the Cubs is that they strikeout too much and tend not draw enough walks to drive up their opposing pitchers pitch counts. The Cubs struck out a total of 9 times in the game and didn’t draw any walks in the game. If the Cubs want to be a successful team this year or in upcoming seasons their hitters are going to need to learn to be more patient at the plate, which would lead to more free passes on the base paths. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-24370500587178847812013-05-07T18:25:00.002-04:002013-05-07T20:07:35.510-04:00Preview for the May 7th Game<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Preview for the May 7<sup>th</sup>Game<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Chicago Cubs will face their familiar division rival, the St. Louis Cardinals, for the first time this season. The game will begin at 8:05pm eastern time and will be played at Wrigley Field. The Cubbies will look to feed on their lopsided win over the Texas Rangers from last night. The Cubs will be sending the reliable left-handed starting pitcher Travis Wood to the mound. Wood has pitched a quality start in every start of his this season which is shown by his low era of just 2.50 and an excellent whip that is below 1.00 and is at 0.91. Travis Wood is coming off a tough lost against the Padres which gave him a record of 2-2, where Wood went 7.2 innings in that game and allowed 3 earned runs on 4 hits and a walk. Travis Wood has been pitching extremely well this year for the Cubbies and will look to build on his performance in this season by pitching lights out against the tough and hard hitting Cardinals.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The probable pitcher for the Cardinals will be the undefeated right handed pitcher Lance Lynn. Lynn is 5-0 on the season and is the first St. Louis Cardinal to ever start off a year 5-0 and has 39 strikeouts with an era of 2.75. Lynn is coming off an impressive win over the Cincinnati Red, where he went 7 innings allowing one earned run on five hits and 2 walks. Lynn is hard throwing pitcher that throws a four seam fastball in the mid-90s, a two seam fastball that has some sink to it, a curveball that can deadly at times, a slider that has some tricky movement to it and a changeup that he rarely pitches.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>If the Cubs hitters want to have success off of Lance Lynn then they need to be patient at the plate, work deep counts and draw some walks because the most hits that Lynn has given up this year is just seven. The Cubs will need to rely on shortstop Starlin Castro’s and outfielder Alfonso Soriano’s bats because both hitters have a batting clip over .300 against Lance Lynn. The Cubs batters match up well against Lynn because he is a fastball pitcher and tends to use his fastball to strikeout batters. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>My prediction for the game is that the Cubbies will pull out a tough and low scoring game against the Cardinals and will hand Lynn his first loss of season with a score of 3 to 2. I just believe the Cubs suit up well for Lynn and the Cards hitters struggle against Wood in this game. My predicted player of the game is Starlin Castro because I think Castro will just sit on Lynn’s fastball and will take one yard off Lynn.&nbsp;</b></span><o:p></o:p></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-37875569672041334382013-05-01T23:30:00.004-04:002013-05-01T23:30:49.010-04:00Preview for the May 2nd Game<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Preview for the May 2<sup>nd</sup>&nbsp;Game<u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>San Diego Padres (10-17) at Chicago Cubs (11-16)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Chicago Cubs will be looking to win their four game series against the San Diego Padres in tomorrow’s game. The game starts at 2:20pm eastern time at the Friendly Confines. If the Cubs can win tomorrow’s game they will win two consecutive four game series and creep closer to a .500 record. The Cubbies will be sending the reliable and crafty left-handed pitcher Travis Wood to the mound in their afternoon game against the Padres. Travis Wood has been arguably the best and most consistent pitcher the Cubbies have this season because he has pitched a quality start, which is when a starting pitcher goes at least six innings and doesn’t allow more than 3 earned runs in the game, in each and every start of his this season. Wood sports a record of 2-1 with an era of 2.25 and an excellent whip of 0.97. Travis Wood is going to need his cutter to be extremely effective in his start tomorrow because the Padres have hard hitting right-handed batters like Chase Headley and Carlos Quentin.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The opposing probable starting pitcher will be the left-handed Eric Stults, who has a 2-2 record with an era of 5.67. So far this season Stults has had some difficulties on the mound because in his last two starts he has gave up 5 earned runs in both outings. Stults has a typical pitching repertoire that consists of a fastball that sits in the high-80s, a changeup that is arguably his best pitch, a slider that can be nasty if he pitches it effectively, a curve ball that has some bite to it and a two seam fastball that he rarely throws.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Cubbies will be facing another left-handed pitcher in their series with the Padres, let’s hope they can hit off this lefty as well as they did Clayton Richard. I normally say that the Cubs will struggle against a starting LHP, but not this time because I believe the Cubs hitters will have the advantage in this game because Stults tends to give up too many hits to be effective and has some bad track records against certain Cubs hitters. One of those hitters would be the former Giant Nate Schierholtz, who has a homered off Stults and is batting over .500 in nine career at-bats against him. Another Cubbie that has taken Stults out of the park is Alfonso Soriano.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>My prediction of the game is that the Cubs will win their series against the Padres and therefore win in tomorrow’s game with a score of 5 to 2. I know that my predictions in the last couple of games have been off, but I couldn’t go against Travis Wood in this game. I predict that Wood will go 6.2 innings with six strikeouts and will allow 2 earned runs, but is not the player of the game. My predict player of the game is Alfonso Soriano because I believe he will not only hit one homer off Eric Stults, but will hit two homeruns off him.</b></span><o:p></o:p></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-44406424123897685472013-05-01T18:18:00.001-04:002013-05-01T18:18:16.845-04:00Preview for the May 1st Game<br /><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Preview for the May 1<sup>st</sup><span class="apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>Game</span></b><o:p></o:p></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 200%;">San Diego Padres (10-16) at Chicago Cubs (10-16)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 200%;">The Chicago Cubs will be looking to start the month of May the same way that they started the month of April, with a victory. The Cubbies will be looking to make up for their blowout loss to the Padres in yesterday’s game. The Cubs will be sending the sinking ball right-handed pitcher Scott Feldman to the mound in their game today. Feldman is coming off his first win as a Cub and his best outing of the year so far by going 6.2 innings where he allowed just 2 earned runs against the Marlins. Although Feldman pitched well in his last start, he does have a poor record of 1-3 with an era of 3.92 and a whip 1.65. If Feldman wants to have success against the Padres he must limit the amount of free bases, especially to the Padres leadoff man Everth Cabrera because he is too&nbsp;</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 200%;">dangerous on the base paths.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 200%;">The probable pitcher for the Padres is the hard throwing ex-Cubbie Andrew Cashner, who was the center piece in the trade for first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Cashner is 1-1 and has an era of 3.26. Cashner begun the year out the pen, but is now in the rotation for the Padres and is coming off an excellent start where he got a win by going six innings and allowed just one earned run against the Giants. Andrew Cashner is a young talented pitcher, but really only has three pitches that he uses, which are a fastball in hight-90s, a slider that has great movement to it and a changeup that has been unhittable early this season. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 200%;">The Cubs hitters will be facing a tough task in tonight’s game because not only are they going up against a young talented pitcher, but that young pitcher has something to prove against the Cubs. Not many Cubs batters have faced Cashner before in there career, therefore many Cubbies will get their first crack at their former teammate. The only Cub hitter that has actually gotten a hit against Cashner is Starlin Castro who is 1 for 1 against him with a RBI.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 200%;">My prediction for the game is that Cubs will lose their second game in as many days with a score of 6 to 2. I believe that Scott Feldman will struggle against the Padres, whereas Andrew Casher will pitch extremely well against his former team. My predicted player of the game is Andrew Cashner because I predict he will go six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts against the Cubbies.</span></b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-79774223119423218682013-04-30T16:53:00.002-04:002013-04-30T17:03:52.706-04:00Preview for the April 30th Game<br /><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Preview for the April 30<sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>Game</span><u1:p></u1:p></b><o:p></o:p></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">San Diego Padres (9-16) at Chicago Cubs (10-15)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The Chicago Cubs will be looking to end the month of April with two consecutive wins. The Cubbies are coming off a 5 to 3 win over the San Diego Padres and look to take a two to none series lead over the Padres. Edwin Jackson will be the probable pitcher for the Cubs and is sporting a record of 0-3 with an era of 4.76. Jackson will be looking for his first victory as a Cubbie and is coming off a quality start against the Miami Marlins. Edwin Jackson went six innings in that start, where he allowed 3 earned runs on five hits and 4 walks. If Jackson wants to have a successful season this year, he needs to limit his walk total and get through the first couple innings unscathed in his starts because those are two areas in his game that he is struggling at. I can see Jackson having a solid start against the Padres and could possibly pull out his first win of the year.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Jackson will be going up against the right-handed pitcher and ex- Red, Edison Volquez. Volquez is 1-3 with era of 6.39 and has had some outings were he has gotten rocked, however in his last two starts he has shown that his early stuggles might be over because he threw seven scoreless innings against the hard hitting Brewers. The pitches that Volquez pitches are a four seam fastball that is in the low to mid-90s, a curveball that has a normal break to it, a slider that can be nasty and a changeup which is a pitch that the Cubs hitters tend to struggle against. Volquez can be an effective pitcher if he can command his pitches well because he is four pitch pitcher that truly doesn’t just rely on one pitch.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The Cubs hitters should be looking forward to going up against Edison Volquez because when he is off his game he is extremely off his game. The Cubs will need to rely on Darwin Barney in today’s game because his track record against Volquez is the best among any other Cubbie; Barney has a .444 batting average against the starting pitcher for the Padres. Anthony Rizzo will get his first crack against his former teammate in tonight’s game and I strongly believe that Rizzo matches up well against Volquez.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">My prediction for tonight’s game is the Cubbies pull out another win against the Padres with a score of 7 to 3. I predict that the Cubs hitters will take advantage of Volquez being a wild in tonight’s game and hit the ball hard off him. I believe that Edwin Jackson will get his first W in tonight’s game by going six innings and allowing 3 earned runs with seven punch outs. My predicted player of the game is Anthony Rizzo, I predict that he will go yard against his former team and teammate.</span></b><o:p></o:p></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-24625644818301082292013-04-27T14:22:00.002-04:002013-04-27T14:22:52.714-04:00Update for Blog<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Update for Blog<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>I’m taking the next couple days off from writing my blog because I have finals this week and need to study for them. I will write a game analysis for each game that I haven’t done yet next Tuesday or Wednesday. A preview for the next few games are that the Chicago Cubs have two more games against the Miami Marlins which I believe the Cubbies should win both of those games and then the Cubs come home for a home stand where they face the Reds. This Monday Jeff Samardzija will be on the mound and I believe he will get a win against the Reds to make up for his loss against them last week when he only gave up 1 run.&nbsp;</b></span><o:p></o:p></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-89056189337716661782013-04-26T16:50:00.004-04:002013-04-30T16:53:06.476-04:00Preview for the April 26th Game<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Preview for the April 26<sup>th</sup> Game<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Chicago Cubs (7-14) at Miami Marlins (5-17)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Chicago Cubs will be looking to go up 2-0 in their four game series against the Miami Marlins. The game will be played on Friday at 7:10pm eastern time in Marlins Park. The Cubbies probable pitcher in tonight’s game will be RHP Scott Feldman. Feldman is 0-3 with an era of 4.50 and has yet to really put in a solid performance. Scott Feldman’s last start was his best start, although he did have a crucial error that led to his loss against the Brewers. He went 5 innings allowed one earned run (4 runs total) on three hits (one was a three run homer from Ryan Braun) and three walks. Feldman has been struggling with his command on his pitches this year and needs to pitch less wildly if he wants to have a winning record this season. This start could be Feldman’s breakout start because he will be facing a weak lineup and needs to take advantage of that by not issuing many walks in today’s game.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Marlins will be sending left-handed pitcher Wade LeBlanc who is 0-3 with an era of 6.27. However, LeBlanc has pitched well in all of his starts except for one against the Washington Nationals when he surrendered seven earned runs which ultimately makes his era misleading. In his other three starts he just gave up two earned runs and can be effective against the Cubbies because he is a lefty. The pitches in LeBlanc’s repertoire is a four seam fastball that is in the high-80s, a two seam fastball that has some movement to it, a changeup that he uses to mix his velocity up and a cutter that he rarely uses.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Cubs hitters will be going up against a lefty starting pitcher and they usually have a difficult time scoring runs against those types of pitchers. Nate Schierholtz should be in the lineup even though there is a LHP on the mound for the Marlins because he has a batting average of .333 with a RBI against Wade LeBlanc. I believe the Cubbies actually matchup greatly against the LeBlanc because he is a fastball pitcher and the Cubs tend to be fastball hitters.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>My prediction for the game is that the Cubs will win their second game in as many days by a score of 6 to 3. I believe that Scott Feldman will struggle again, but will get his first win as a Cubbie by going 5 innings allowing 3 runs and will give up too many free passes. However, the Cubs hitters will have Feldman’s back and give him enough run support to win the game. My predicted player of the game is Starlin Castro because he is a fastball hitter and I predict that he will go 3 for 5 with a couple extra base hits, one being a homerun.</b></span><o:p></o:p></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-28037303777015248572013-04-25T00:00:00.001-04:002013-04-25T00:00:05.107-04:00April 24th Game’s Results and Analysis<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>April 24<sup>th</sup>Game’s Results and Analysis<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Cincinnati Reds 1 - Chicago Cubs 0<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Winning Pitcher: Latos (1-0) Losing Pitcher: Samardzija (1-4)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Save by Chapman (6)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Player of the Game: Mat Latos<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-64595309024925353072013-04-24T23:59:00.003-04:002013-04-24T23:59:24.273-04:00April 23rd Game’s Results and Analysis<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>April 23<sup>rd</sup>Game’s Results and Analysis<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Chicago Cubs 4 - Cincinnati Reds 2<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Winning Pitcher: Marmol (2-1) Losing Pitcher: Parra (0-1)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Save by Gregg (1)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Player of the Game: Darwin Barney<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-4672482175843540252013-04-24T23:58:00.002-04:002013-04-24T23:58:36.044-04:00April 22nd Game’s Results and Analysis<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>April 22<sup>nd</sup>Game’s Results and Analysis<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Cincinnati Reds 5 - Chicago Cubs 4<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Winning Pitcher: Simon (2-1) Losing Pitcher: Bowden (0-1)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Player of the Game: Jay Bruce</b></span><o:p></o:p></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-68407563158163300112013-04-24T23:57:00.004-04:002013-04-26T14:38:31.650-04:00Preview for the April 25th Game<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Preview for the April 25<sup>th</sup> Game<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Chicago Cubs (6-14) at Miami Marlins (5-16)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Chicago Cubs are looking forward to playing a non-division foe and a team with a losing record. The Cubbies will be heading to Marlins Park as the favorite for a four game series with their first game being tomorrow at 7:10pm eastern time. The probable starting pitcher for the Cubs will be the veteran RHP Edwin Jackson. Jackson is 0-3 on the year with an era of 4.84 and is coming off his best start which was a quality start where he allowed just 4 hits and one walk. Edwin Jackson should be looking forward to his start tomorrow because he will be facing a lineup that is a tad weak at times and because he gets a chance to pitch in a pitcher’s park. If Jackson can avoid the big inning, which he hasn’t done much of this season and prevent Giancarlo Stanton from having a big game he should pull out his first W in a Cubbie blue uniform.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The pitcher that the Marlins will be sending to the mound in their opening series game against the Cubs is LHP Kevin Slowey. Slowey has pitched solid in his first four starts, but you wouldn’t guess that because he’s 0-2 with a low era of 1.90. The pitches in his repertoire are a sinker ball that he needs to command well to be effective, a fastball in the high-80s, a cutter that he will use against hitters like Starlin Castro, a slider that he will use to strikeout batters and a changeup to change the pace on hitters. Kevin Slowey will be looking for his first win in the young season and it looks like he could have a good chance because the Cubs haven’t handed a starting opposing left-handed pitcher a loss yet in this season.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Cubs hitters will look to show that their lineup is effective against LHPs and score enough runs to give the pitchers enough run support to win a game. The Cubbies will probably have Dave Sappelt, Welington Castillo and Alfonso Soriano back in their starting lineup in tomorrow’s game. I hope that the Cubs know the track record that David DeJesus has against Slowey, DeJesus is batting a clip of .333 with 5 RBIs against Slowey in his 18 at bats against him. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>My prediction of the game is the Cubs win their first game against the Marlins with a score of 5-2. The Cubs starting pitcher matches up too well against the Marlins lineup and therefore can take advantage of the lack of run support they may receive by the Cubs hitters by pitching lights out against the Marlins. My predicted player of the game is Edwin Jackson by going 7 solid innings and allowing just one earned run with 8 strikeouts. I also predict that Alfonso Soriano will put together a solid game by going 2 for 4 with an extra base hit or two.</b></span><o:p></o:p></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-42637709167822083472013-04-23T23:33:00.003-04:002013-04-23T23:33:28.759-04:00Preview for the April 24th Game<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Preview for the April 24<sup>th</sup> Game<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Chicago Cubs (6-13) at Cincinnati Reds (12-9)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Chicago Cubs will be looking to get a victory in their rubber match against the Cincinnati Reds. The game will be played at the Great American Ballpark at 12:35pm eastern time. The Cubs and Reds will try to avoid another extra innings game in their series finale. The Cubbies will be sending Jeff Samardzija to the mound in their game. Samardzija is off to a good start to the year by going 1-3 with an era 3.38, but is coming off a start in which he gave up 4 earned runs. Jeff Samardzija has limited his walk total since his start against the Atlanta Braves therefore if he can keep that up he can do damage to lineups. However, his strikeout rate has gone down since the Braves game. If Samardzija can prevent the big inning, like the one that he gave up to the Brewers in his last start by getting the Reds hottest hitters out, Shin-Soo Choo.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Reds will be sending the tough, talented RHP pitcher Mat Latos to the mound, who has no decisions in his first four starts of year, but has a stellar era of 2.73. Latos has thrown a quality start in each of his starts this season and is coming off his best outing by going 7 strong innings allowing one earned run and striking out 10 Miami Marlins hitters. The pitches in his pitching repertoire are a four seam fastball that can reach the mid-90s but is usually in the low-90s, a two seam fastball that has good movement to it, a slider that can be nasty, a cutter that is effective against the lefties and a changeup that he rarely uses. Latos is an extremely effective pitcher and will be a tough matchup for the Cubbies.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Cubs hitters will look to have success against the Reds by out hitting the Reds batters in all three games in the series. In order for the Cubs to have success in tomorrow’s game is by not striking out in the double digits like they did in the first two games against the Reds. Dioner Navarro should be in the lineup tomorrow because of the early start and will try to impress one of his former teams. Also, Anthony Rizzo will try to break out of his little hitting slump in tomorrow’s game because he struck out six times already in this series against the Reds.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>My prediction of the game is that the Cubbies will pull out a series winning game against the Reds in the rubber game with a score of 2 to 0. I boldly predict that Samardzija will pitch a shutout in tomorrow’s game and have 12 punch outs in the game therefore making Samardzija my predicted player of the game. I also predict that Navarro will have a solid performance in tomorrow’s game and that David DeJesus will go 3 for 4 with an extra base hit.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>I will be posting my game analyses of April 22nd and 23rd's games tomorrow because I had to study for a final tonight.</b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-13096360778119568822013-04-23T13:04:00.000-04:002013-04-23T13:04:06.999-04:00Preview for the April 23rd Game<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Preview for the April 23<sup>rd</sup> Game<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Chicago Cubs (5-13) at Cincinnati Reds (12-8)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Chicago Cubs will be trying to avoid a five game losing streak and losing their series against the Cincinnati Reds in tonight’s game. The game will start at 7:10pm eastern time and will be played at the Great American Ballpark. The Cubs will look to get revenge for their extra innings loss to the Reds in yesterday’s game. Carlos Villanueva will be the probable pitcher for the Cubbies and is coming off his first win of the season. Villanueva has a quality start in each of his first 3 starts this year with a record of 1-0 and an era of 1.29. Carlos Villanueva is coming off a victory over the Texas Rangers when he went 7 innings, allowed 2 earned runs on 4 hits and a walk. You could argue that Villanueva has been one of the best pitchers in this early season because he should be 3-0 in the season, but the bullpen has failed him and so have the Cubs hitters. Carlos Villanueva is off to a strong start by relying on his changeup, which is his best pitch and by mixing the velocity of pitches so effectively.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The opposing probable pitcher will be the young, hard throwing left-handed pitcher Tony Cingrani. Cingrani is coming off his first start, in which he got a win by going 5 innings allowing one earned run on 5 hits, three walks and 5 strikeouts against the Miami Marlins. Cingrani is a talented pitcher who relies just on his fastball that is in the mid-90s, however he does have a slider and changeup but don’t expect him to pitch those pitches as much as his fastball. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Cubs hitters tend to struggle against left-handed pitchers, which is why the Cubs are 0-6 when their opponent starts a LHP. However, I believe the Cubs hitters can take advantage of the rookie Cingrani. I believe the Cubs batters will fare well against him because he’s really just a fastball pitcher and the Cubs best hitters tend to do well off fastball pitchers. I just think the Cubbies need to be patient at the plate because Cingrani can be a tad wild at times especially with his secondary pitches.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>My prediction for the game is the Cubs win in order to make up for their loss to the Reds last night with a score of 5 to 2. I believe Villanueva will continue his strong season by having a strong outing against the Reds and will be the player of the game. I predict that Villanueva will go 6.1 innings allowing just two earned runs and have 5 K’s in the game. I also predict that Starlin Castro will continue his hitting streak by getting two hits of the rookie Cingrani.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>I will be posting the game analysis for April 22<sup>nd</sup>’s game when I post the game analysis for today’s game because I&nbsp;didn't&nbsp;get a chance to finish the analysis because I was finishing up a paper for a class of mine.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-157816711485118442013-04-21T22:24:00.002-04:002013-04-21T22:24:54.973-04:00Preview for the April 22nd Game<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Preview for the April 22<sup>nd</sup> Game<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Chicago Cubs (5-12) at Cincinnati Reds (11-8)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Chicago Cubs will continue on their road trip and head to Cincinnati to face the Reds. The game will be played at Great American Ball Park at 7:10pm eastern time. This will be the first time that the Cubs will face last year’s division winners, who are coming off a 6 and 1 week. The Cubbies will be sending the crafty left-handed Travis Wood to the mound in tomorrow’s game. Wood has three quality starts in three starts this year and has a record of 1-1 with an era of 1.83. Travis Wood has been pitching effectively for the Cubbies and should have more wins to show for in this early year, but he needs to hope the Cubs can score some runs for him to pile up on the wins. If he wants to beat the Reds in his start tomorrow he needs to make sure he prevents the leadoff man for the Reds from getting on base because Shin-Soo Choo has been the best hitter for the Reds thus far. Another thing Wood needs to do in tomorrow’s outing is not allow the Reds to hit homeruns in a hitter’s ballpark.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The opposing probable pitcher is the young, but veteran RHP Mike Leake. Leake has a record of 1-0 with an era of 4.50 and has gone at least 6 innings in all of his starts this season. Mike Leake is coming off his best start where he went seven scoreless innings with just three hits and struck out 7 Phillies batters. The pitches in Leake’s repertoire are a sinker ball which is his best pitch, a slider which he uses to strikeout batters, a cuter that is effective against left-handed hitters, a changeup that he is relying on a lot this season and another fastball to complement his sinker ball. Leake is not going to overpower any hitters, but is an effective pitcher because he pitches low and pitches for contact.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Cubs hitters will get another crack at a hitter’s ballpark in their series against the Reds and look to do better in this series than the one against the Brewers. The Cubbies will look to take advantage if Mike Leake’s sinker ball doesn’t have any sink to it and if he doesn’t have the excellent command that he usually has. The Cubs fare well against Leake because he is right-handed pitcher and they have done well against him in their previous matchups.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>My prediction is the Cubs snap their three game losing streak by beating the Reds with a score of 4-2. The Cubs will score enough runs to pull out a victory and the bullpen will hold down the Reds lineup in order to get a victory. My predicted player of the game is Travis Wood, because I think Wood will get another quality start by pitching 6 innings with 7 strikeouts and will allow just two earned runs. I also predict that Castro adds to his 13 game hitting streak by getting an extra base hit off Mike Leake. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-11172929675589057802013-04-21T21:49:00.004-04:002013-04-21T21:49:44.762-04:00April 21st Game’s Results and Analysis<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>April 21<sup>st</sup>Game’s Results and Analysis<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Milwaukee Brewers 4 - Chicago Cubs 2<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Winning Pitcher: Peralta (1-1) Losing Pitcher: Feldman (0-3)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Save by Henderson (4)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Player of the Game: Wily Peralta<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Chicago Cubs couldn’t avoid getting swept by the Milwaukee Brewers with a loss of 4 to 2. The Cubbies did have a lead in the game until a three run homer by Ryan Braun who would have been the player of the game, but he struck out 3 times in a game and got ejected in the same game so I decided he wasn’t the player of the game. The Cubs did get a solid start from Scott Feldman, but errors made by him and Welington Castillo were costly errors and probably cost Feldman’s chance for a win. Feldman was out-dueled by Wily Peralta, Peralta putting together a quality start by going 6.2 innings and allowed just 2 earned runs.&nbsp; <o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Impressive: The most impressive thing about today’s game was Anthony Rizzo’s 6<sup>th</sup> homerun of the year. Rizzo hit a two run homer off of Wily Peralta in the third inning with two outs. The most impressive thing about Rizzo’s homerun was that it came off a left-handed pitcher, which is his second homer off a lefty pitcher. Anthony Rizzo has shown that he can hit for power and offers the Cubbies a power left-handed batter. Rizzo could one day be an all-star and has MVP caliber talent, the Cubs just need to give him the time to groom himself into the player he can be. Another impressive thing in today’s game is that Starlin Castro has put in a 13 game hitting streak and has not recorded a hit in only two games this season.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><o:p></o:p></b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Surprising: What surprised me about today’s game was how well Scott Feldman pitched in his start. Feldman went 5 innings allowing 4 runs (one earned) with 6 strikeouts and gave up only three hits to the Brewers. However, Feldman struggled again with his command and walked too many batters to pull out a good performance. I believe that Feldman offers the Cubs a decent 5<sup>th</sup> starter, but is more suited to the bullpen once the Cubbies get Matt Garza or Scott Baker back.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Concerning: I truly only have one concern about today’s and that is the Cubs can’t hit left-handed pitchers. The Cubbies are winless when there is a left-handed starting opposing pitcher. The Cubs only recorded five hits and a team can’t get five hits and expect to win on a given night. I don’t know what the solution to the Cubs problems against LHPs is, I thought the signing of Scott Hairston was a solid solution, but he hasn’t panned out as well as planned. If the Cubs could add a power right-handed batter to their lineup it might help them win games that they tend to lose.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-23821882516884100622013-04-21T21:06:00.000-04:002013-04-21T21:06:10.218-04:00April 20th Game’s Results and Analysis<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>April 20<sup>th</sup>Game’s Results and Analysis<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Milwaukee Brewers 5 - Chicago Cubs 1<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Winning Pitcher: Burgos (1-0) Losing Pitcher: Jackson (0-3)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Player of the Game: Hiram Burgos<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Chicago Cubs lost a tough one against the Brewers and are down two games to none in the series against the Brewers as well. The Cubs couldn’t manufacture a lot of runs against the rookie Hiram Burgos seeing that they only scored one run off Burgos. Burgos got the win in his first major league start by going 5 innings allowing one earned run on 5 hits and one walk. The rookie looked solid in his start and had success against the Cubs hitters therefore he was the player of the game. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Impressive: There really wasn’t anything impressive in last night’s game, however Edwin Jackson pitched a solid game that deserved a win if the Cubs could have scored some runs. Jackson got a quality start by going 6 innings and allowed 5 runs (one earned) with 5 strikeouts in the game and allowed 4 hits with a walk. Jackson hasn’t won this season, but he has looked solid this year and I believe a great signing by the Cubbies this off-season. I think Edwin Jackson will get his first win in the season on Thursday when he faces the Miami Marlins.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Surprising: I’m shocked in how many errors that Starlin Castro has in this early season. Castro committed his fourth error of the year in last’s game. Most of Castro’s errors have cost the Cubbies some runs this year and it can be argued that those runs off his errors caused some losses. I strongly believe that Castro can be an amazing fielder and could win a golden glove award one of these years because he can make plays that an ordinary players can’t make, but Castro makes too many crucial errors to be classified along with the amazing fielders. I’m just nervous that the Cubs organization is going to lose patience with Castro because of his silly mistakes in field and I don’t want to see the Cubs without a player that can be great, but just needs time to grow from his mistakes. I know MLB players shouldn’t be in majors when they might have some flaws in their game, but Castro is only 23.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Concerning: I have two concerns with the Chicago Cubs one being their fielding and hitting. The Cubs had three errors in the game and are one of the worst fielding teams in the league therefore Cubs need to either have better pitching or better hitting to win games. However, the Cubs lack a lineup that puts fear in a starting pitcher’s mind therefore they don’t make up their fielding miscues by their hitting. The Cubs had a great chance to win in yesterday’s game because they were going up against a rookie pitcher in a hitter’s ballpark, but could only score one run off the rookie and the Brewers. I believe that the Cubs need another hitter in their lineup in order to have success this year and in the future if they want to compete in the division.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6533021706512246877.post-71189245977277455482013-04-21T13:28:00.000-04:002013-04-21T13:28:12.968-04:00Preview for the April 21st Game<br /><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Preview for the April 21<sup>st</sup> Game<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Chicago Cubs (5-11) at Milwaukee Brewers (8-8)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Chicago Cubs will be looking to avoid a sweep in their three game series against division rival Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs will also be looking to snap the Brew Crew’s 6 game winning streak as well. Scott Feldman will be the starting pitcher for the Cubbies in today’s game. Feldman has started off the season slowly and hasn’t even pitched 5 innings in either of his starts. The reasons for Feldman’s struggles this year is that he has some lower back pain and has been especially wild in his starts. Scott Feldman will a have a tough task in today’s game because the Brewers lineup has been on fire and hitting the cover off the ball in their recent series. If Feldman can command his pitches and keeps his pitches low he could get the win for the Cubs.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The probable starting pitcher for the Brewers is Wily Peralta who is a LHP that has a record of 0-1 with an era of 6.19. However Peralta’s best start of the season was on April 9<sup>th</sup> when he pitched a quality start against the Cubbies. Peralta got the no-decision in the game by going 6.2 innings, giving up 2 earned runs with 5 punch outs. The hard-throwing Peralta just allowed 6 hits and 2 walks in the game. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The starting pitcher for the Brewers offers the Cubbies a huge challenge because the Cubs are 0-5 this year when their opponent has a lefty on the mound. David DeJesus and Nate Schierholtz should be out of the lineup because of the starting LHP of the Brewers therefore Cubs newly acquired Julio Borbon might get the start in center field. The Cubs hitters need to show that they can hit off lefties as well as they hit off of right-handed pitchers and the Cubs need to manufacture more runs if they want to be more competitive this season.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>My prediction for the game is that the Cubs won’t avoid a sweep by the Brewers with a win by the Brew Crew with a score of 7 to 2. I strongly believe that Feldman will have a difficult time again on the mound and because the Cubs lineup is usually ineffective when there is a lefty on the mound for their opponents. My predicted player of the game is Ryan Braun because he has had a quiet year so far this season and is a Cub killer. I can see Braun going 2 for 4 with a walk and a homerun. &nbsp;<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>I will be posting my game analysis for April 20<sup>th</sup>’s game as soon as I can watch the game from the mlb.tv archives since I didn’t get the chance to watch it yesterday due to my cable tv provider.&nbsp;</b></span><o:p></o:p></div>Jacob Christmanhttps://plus.google.com/109541179078184055497noreply@blogger.com0